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Month: March 2015

As a child, I remember vividly playing in my grandfather’s workshop that was used to repair and re-tread used, worn and damaged truck and bus tires. As we ran in and out of the workshop we saw employees working hard on different processes – buffing, loading and unloading, assembling, etc. – often waving and smiling at us as we passed by. My grandfather was a very jovial person and the complete atmosphere was very happy.

The workshop was very popular in and around the city and known for its quality and customer service. However, sometimes we would see our grandfather agitated and upset. This would only happen, as we realized later, when he received a customer complaint about quality, however minor it might be. This to him was unacceptable and a very painful experience. I think his pain was shared by all the employees in the workshop. Quality was very personal to him. He expected each person to ensure their work was perfect, as a way of showing pride in their craft and workmanship. “Nobody should be able to find any problem with your work,” he would always say. Pride in the work and ownership of what every employee did was a huge factor in the success of this small business.

The Shingo Model™ captures ten timeless principles that apply to all, regardless of our beliefs or level of understanding. In my experience working with companies over the past 20 years, the principle that is least practiced addresses the idea that value should be flowed and pulled. So what does it mean to flow value? Why is flow considered a principle? How does pull enter the picture and what is its relationship to flow? Finally, why is flow the least practiced of the principles?

Value for customers is maximized when it is created in response to real demand and a continuous and uninterrupted flow. Although one-piece flow is the ideal, often demand is distorted between and within organizations. Waste is anything that disrupts the continuous flow of value.